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USC 88
, |Row 3 title = Participants |Row 3 info = 41 |Row 4 title = Debuting countries |Row 4 info = |Row 5 title = Returning countries |Row 5 info = , , , , , |Row 6 title = Withdrawing countries |Row 6 info = , , , , , |Row 7 title = Winner |Row 7 info = Ina Wroldsen & Broiler "Lay it on me" |Row 8 title = Timeline |Row 8 info = ◄ Luxembourg 87 Tromso 89 ► }} Universong 88 was the 88th edition of the Universong Contest, held in France for the third time ever, after the winning of Marina Kaye with the song "Freeze you out" on the previous edition in Luxembourg. This edition was held from May 3rd to May 23rd, and the chosen city was Saint-Denis, capital city of the Reunion Island. The particularity of this edition was that it was held in an overseas territory of France for the very first time, after both USC 16 and USC 62 - the two previous editions held in French territory - were held in continental France, more specifically in its capital, Paris. 41 countries competed in this edition, with the debut of Jamaica, country that made the finals in its first attempt. Remembered as one of the strongest Universong editions in its history, it became evident from the early voting stages that Norway would be the winner of this edition, as well as being one of the previous favourites for the title. The Nordic country got it second win ever with the song "Lay it on me" by Ina Wroldsen & Broiler. Norway collected 205 points, winning by a large streak of points and without giving the first place out during the whole voting round. This was as well, as aforementioned, the second Norwegian winning in the Universong, the first since USC 55 in Den Bosch, The Netherlands, when Tone Damli won Universong with the song "Winner of a losing game". The runner-up position was for Brazil, for the second time since USC 75. PUZZLE was the responsible of this accomplishment for the South American country, with the song "Godlike". Brazil got 150 points, 55 points less than Norway, without attempting catching up in any moment of the voting. Meanwhile, the third place was taken by Bulgaria, country who scored its best historical position ever in its long Universong history. Mihaela Marinova, a returning artist in this edition, scored 149 points thanks to the song "Ne ti li stiga", breaking not only her own personal record, but also all the known records for this country (though it would later be equalled in USC 93). The fourth place went to Cyprus, represented by Metaxas' "Selene", and the fifth place went to Poland, with the runner-up of the country's Eurovision national final Margaret, and her entry "Cool me down". It's important to remark that the second, third and fourth places got very closed to each other in points, despite the runaway lead of Norway, situation that wasn't seen since USC 85 in Amsterdam, where runners-up, Switzerland and Norway got closed to each other in the very last vote, despite the runaway lead of eventual winner, San Marino. Originally, Canada, represented by Cœur de Pirate, with the song "Crier tout bas", got fourth place with 148 points. Even though, the country was disqualified before the results were revealed, because its manager didn't show up on time during the voting days. As a consequence, all the countries eventually had one more place in the scoreboard but Norway, the runaway leader and eventual winner, and runners-up Brazil and Bulgaria. About the city Saint-Denis,' '''or unofficially '''Saint-Denis de la Réunion', is the préfecture (administrative capital) of the French overseas region and department of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. It is located at the island's northernmost point, close to the mouth of the Rivière Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is the most populous commune in the French overseas departments. At the 1999 census, there were 158,139 inhabitants in the urban area of Saint-Denis, 131,557 of whom lived in the city (commune) of Saint-Denis proper and the remainder in the neighbouring commune of Sainte-Marie. Saint-Denis was founded by Étienne Regnault in 1669 and became the capital of Réunion island in 1738. The town has many neighborhoods : Le Barachois, Bellepierre, Bois-de-Nèfles, La Bretagne (Le Cerf), Le Brûlé, Les Camélias, Centre-ville, Champ-Fleuri, La Montagne(Le Colorado, Ruisseau Blanc, Saint-Bernard), Montgaillard, La Providence, La Rivière Saint-Denis (La Redoute), Ruisseau des Noirs, Saint-François, Saint-Jacques, Sainte-Clotilde (Le Butor, le Chaudron, Commune Prima, Domenjod, Le Moufia), La Source, La Trinité, Vauban. The closest airport is Roland Garros Airport which is also the main international airport of Réunion. The hotels in Saint-Denis include Mercure Creolia Hotel, Austral Hotel and Best Western. Semifinal 1 Semifinal 2 Grand Final Returning artists Special Awards Bartek Award Best Non-English Award hph01 Award Category:Universong Contest